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“It happened to me quite a few times,” remarked Le Blanc during a rehearsal break for the musical, Annie which opened this week at St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, the final production of Drayton Entertainment’s 2012 season.

If ever a human being embodied an imaginary character, it’s this 13-year-old Nova Scotia native, from her freckled nose to her naturally curly red hair and big personality Le Blanc embodies Annie.

“I loved the movie, I watched it all the time,” said Le Blanc, who is happily ensconced in St. Jacobs for the six-week run of the show.

“This is a really big opportunity, it’s mind-blowing for me,” said Le Blanc, who played Annie during runs at two other Drayton locations this past summer: Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend and King’s Wharf Theatre in Penetanguishene.

Le Blanc scored the coveted role after Drayton conducted a countrywide video search of young hopefuls singing that iconic Annie song, Tomorrow. After sifting through hundreds of audition tapes, a select few were asked to audition in person with Drayton’s artistic director Alex Mustakas, and Le Blanc won the part.

Between all the rehearsals and the shows, by the end of the year Le Blanc will have spent nearly as much time in Ontario as her home province. She lives in the community of Cole Harbour, hometown of hockey star Sidney Crosby.

Le Blanc said she comes from a musical family and grew up in a home that was often filled with musicians playing fiddles, guitars and mandolins. Her grandfather sang barber shop. But the theatre bug really took hold when she was around four and was mesmerized by the musical Cats at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax. Her father, Norman Le Blanc recalls his daughter “was so amazed by the show … the cats went right out into the audience. It didn’t leave her head for weeks. It got her into theatre.”

Le Blanc said of that night, “I remember the cats coming down the aisle, grabbing people by the arms. It was so surprising and seemed like so much fun.”

By age eight she was old enough to join the community theatre group and more recently was accepted into the young actors program, Neptune Theatre’s elite training program for youth ages 13 to 18. The program starts in January.

Since joining the community group she has performed in productions of Mama Mia! and High School Musical, as well as professional productions of Wizard of Oz and A Christmas Carol: The Musical with Neptune Theatre. Annie is definitely her largest professional role and “the most special.” Her father added “there are not a lot of roles for 13-year-olds.”

Annie was also the first production that has taken her so far from home, though at least one family member is always with her. Having family close also keeps the young woman grounded because the entire Le Blanc clan is determined never to let ego get in the way of her successes.

“She’s a good kid,” her father said.

Her father, very proud of his mature and talented daughter, mentioned that she had trouble packing for this recent run of Annie, She filled her suitcase with shoes and scarves and was upset that there wasn’t quite enough room for all her Halloween candy. She is, after all, only 13.

Being away from home for such long stretches has its challenges. To start with, there is school. But Le Blanc said she manages to squeeze in her lessons during breaks. A grade eight student at the private French school, École Secondaire du Sommet in Bedford, N.S., Le Blanc has the support her teacher who provides all her lessons.

Multi-talented, Le Blanc sings, dances and plays piano, fiddle and guitar. She dreams of one day performing on Broadway, ideally in the lead role of Galinda in Wicked. Until then, she’s very much focused on Annie, the story of a spunky orphan who dreams of being part of a family.

After final curtain on Dec. 23, Le Blanc knows she’ll have a difficult time saying goodbye to her fellow cast members, who have all been so supportive, and to the role she’s embraced as her own.

“When I go back to school, I’m going to be heart broken,” she said. “I don’t want this to end.”